Microphone not working on Acer laptop

Microphone not working on Acer laptop

Hi Andrew,

There's one quick way to find out if the problem is your headset.  If you have any other computer at home or at the office, you can try plugging in you headset.  If everything works perfectly then you are certain that the problem is not the headset.  If it doesn't work, maybe it's time to buy a replacement.

Testing the microphone on another system and verifying functionality is a sure quick way to determine problem with the headset.

If however the problem is not the headset, you can try reinstalling the sound/audio device/audio device controller.

Do the following steps:

* Click the windows icon on the lower right,  then click Control Panel.
* In the control panel, choose view by small icons or large icons.
* Click system. On the left pane, click device manager.
* In the device manager, double click on sound, audio, and game controllers.
* Then right click on the sub-entry under sound, audio and game controllers.
* Click uninstall.  
* Uninstall every single entry under sound, audio and game controllers category.
* Close all applications and any open windows.
* Reboot your laptop
* Try testing your microphone/headset.

Now if this does not correct the problem. You can also try updating the audio drivers.

* Click the windows icon on the lower right,  then click Control Panel.
* In the control panel, choose view by small icons or large icons.
* Click system. On the left pane, click device manager.
* In the device manager, double click on sound, audio, and game controllers.
* Double click on the entry under sound, audio, and game controllers.
* Go the driver tab, and click update driver.

If still no go. Do you remember downloading any windows update recently?  Or did you install any program recently? If yes you can try using system restore. Click on the windows icon (start menu), then go to all programs then accessories. Go to system tools then click on system restore.  Alternatively, you can go back to the Control Panel, click on the system icon. On the left pane click system protection. Then hit system restore.

 System restore can take your system back to a previous states if there's an available restore point.  Choose a restore point that is dated earlier than when your system started exhibiting this problem.  System restore is usually smart enough to automatically create a restore point before you go back to a previous state so you can jump right back to it if the problem is not resolved.

On the system restore screen, hit next. You will see the available restore points. Choose one then hit next.  It will then ask you to confirm the restore procedure  just read through it for some reminders. Then hit finish. Just wait until it's done.  Then test your microphone again.  If still no go, you can revert back to the old settings by just going through the same procedure.  Now if this does not work, try manually uninstalling any windows update that has anything to do with audio/sound.  You can view the available windows updates by going to the control panel, then programs, programs and feature then click on View installed updates. You will see a list of updates with KB number or reference number that you can search on Microsoft's support website to find out what the update is all about.  Sometimes windows update installs audio drivers or  updates that messes up your system audio device.   

Try also msconfig.  Disable all start up programs and disable all non-microsoft services.  If that works it means that there's a start up program or service that is interfering with your audio device functionality.

Paul